


Quick Wings

by Thealmostrhetoricalquestion



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Ficlet, Fluff, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Married Life, POV Magnus Bane, Post-Canon, Shadowhunters: The Ficlet Instruments, This Is Far Too Tender Goodnight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 05:36:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20737064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thealmostrhetoricalquestion/pseuds/Thealmostrhetoricalquestion
Summary: Magnus and Alec share rings, a bed, and a life together. But still, it's hard to stop the doubt from creeping in sometimes.





	Quick Wings

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [sh_ficletinstruments](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sh_ficletinstruments) collection. 

> **Prompt:**
> 
> "I regret nothing."

One day, the other side of the bed will be empty. _One day_ say the harsh and grieving parts of him, _you will be all alone again._

True enough. But he dresses with grace and kisses Alexander anyway. 

Breakfast is always rushed. There simply isn’t enough time to sit and greet the day together. But they greet each other in different ways, with comfortable silences, shared glances, and a discussion of strange dreams. Alexander dreams of geese and being chased. Magnus dreams of falling. If there is another meaning beneath the surface, they do not fish for it.

“Plans?” Alec asks, pottering about near the window, a mug held absently in his hand. 

_Only this,_ Magnus aches to say. _Only this for the rest of forever._

“I thought I’d frighten a few Shadowhunters into behaving.” Blue fire curls around his fingers, a smug declaration. “You’re all so roguish and undisciplined.” 

Alec laughs. “That’s what makes us so attractive.”

On the doorstep, he brushes off Alec’s lapels while he quirks his mouth indulgently, and they part. As High Warlock, there’s no shortage of business to attend to. He settles a dispute that threatens to grow sour, flings an absent-minded curse South-East to a toad of a woman squatting on top of sacred land, and distributes several itching ointments. 

He sends a message to Alec halfway through the afternoon. His heart clenches. That old ghost of himself, the one that curses and shakes its head, is loud today. _Is this all you want, this soft existence before he fades?_ As though that is a bad thing. They share rings, they share a bed, they share a certain type of love that deepens every day. But still the voice is loud. 

Alec knocks on his door, later. He has several cartons of piping hot food and a smile waiting. Magnus throws his pen over his shoulder and pulls him into a starved, searing kiss. 

“What’s this? My husband, here before he’s fallen asleep on his feet? Seems unlikely.”

Alec snorts, handing him a chopstick as he commandeers the messy desk. “Shut up and eat. Maybe I missed you. God, this place needs cleaning.” He frowns at the pen, lying where Magnus dropped it. “And organising.”

_You’ll be all alone one day,_ whispers that old wound. True enough. But Magnus settles on a velvet chair and eats anyway, the other half of his fond grin mirrored across the desk.

At night, the wound opens. _Wouldn’t it be better if you never had this at all?_

Maybe. Maybe it will hurt more later, to have this and then to let it go. He curls around his snoring husband protectively, dodging his cold toes, and thinks, _but still._ It is better to fly on quick wings than never get off the ground at all. And even if it hurts to land, well. 

Magnus pulls Alexander against his chest. The wound softens into a bruise. 

Even if it hurts to land, he knows he won’t regret it.

**Author's Note:**

> Sneaking this in just before the deadline! Thanks, I hope you like it! xxx


End file.
